Colchester Harvester restaurant is left completely beyond saving after overnight blaze tears through building

A Harvester restaurant on London Road, Stanway, near Colchester, has been declared beyond saving after fire tore through the building from around 1am on Thursday. Watch Manager Simons confirmed the building was completely ruined, with four fire engines and an Aerial Ladder Platform battling the blaze from above. Incident Commander Jeremy Tuckwell said crews worked to stop the fire advancing through the building section by section and keep it from reaching neighbouring properties. An investigation into the cause will begin once the site is safe.
London Road in Stanway remains closed near its roundabout with Essex Yeomanry Way, with disruption expected throughout the day.
'The building is completely ruined — there's no saving it unfortunately,' Watch Manager Simons told reporters at the scene.
Essex Fire and Rescue say it is too early to determine what caused the blaze, which took hold rapidly before additional crews were called in.
